


The Life And Work Of Shirogane Naoto (working title)

by drowninginchamomiletea



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Boy howdy do I looooove writing me a good mystery, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-11 05:36:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11707893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drowninginchamomiletea/pseuds/drowninginchamomiletea
Summary: Six years have passed since the case in Inaba was solved. Four have gone by since Shirogane Naoto dropped off the face of the Earth.Law-Dodging Adults in the City





	1. Kanji & Naoto - Headed South

**Author's Note:**

> HOOOOOH BOY AM I COMING IN WITH A BANG NOW THAT RMT'S ENDING. I plan for this to be a sprawling story that only wraps up after a good 15 or 20 chapters.  
> Alternative summary: Naoto's on the run, Kanji's on the hunt, Rise's on tour, and Yu and Yosuke are on the case.

He hadn't seen her since the day they left high school. It had been raining on that cold February day. The light breeze seemed freezing, with the water that soaked through everything around them. He had never expected to leave her life before confessing his love to her, yet lo and behold, that was how it had happened.

It had now been four years since Shirogane Naoto had graduated Yasogami High School and disappeared into the sheets of rain without a trace. Tatsumi Kanji's mother was withering, so her son had hired part-time help at the shop. He wasn’t ready to take over the family business.

He was still searching the globe for the woman he thought he once knew.

* * *

» APRIL 3, 2018

» 02:38

» A15 - THETFORD, UNITED KINGDOM

» TATSUMI KANJI

Kanji grumbled at the borrowed truck as he drove dead towards London on a country highway. It needed a refueling. 

“Could prob'ly use a bit of fuel myself…” He muttered, turning on his blinker and taking the exit.

He pulled into the petrol station, the only light in an otherwise inky night. No resident of a village this far-flung would be awake at 11 PM, let alone 3 AM. Stepping out of the now-silent truck, he looked around into the darkness beyond the station lights. He felt watched. And if the past three years had taught him anything, it was to trust his instincts.

Sensing no immediate threat from within the cloying black cloak of the rural night, he stepped up to the pump, swiped his card, and hooked up the nozzle to the fuel tank. After a moment’s hesitation, he locked the vehicle and headed for the convenience store.

He was tired, but he was hot on the trail of a recent tip that a small, black-haired young woman had been seen in two villages in the English countryside. She was moving south. _London_. If his guessing was accurate, he should be right on track with his quarry. He had to find her before she made it to the city. He may have been on her trail for a quarter decade, but she was still the world's top detective, and he was still just a tailor. He’d never find her once she disappeared in a city that big.

As he approached the bored-looking cashier, Kanji pulled out his phone and held it up so the lanky, pimply redhead could see the photo it displayed.

“Seen her?”

The cashier grunted and shrugged. His hand began to move to scan the taller man's purchases, but then he stopped, blinked, and looked again at the photograph.

“'Ang on, 'ere… Yeah, I fink so… Came by an' bought some travel food, like. Looked right tired, she did. I fink it was, er, two days ago? An',” he continued, a spark of recognition flickering in his eyes, “Me mam said somefin about a black-'aired girl she din recognize, ennit? Yeah… You know 'er?” He gestured to the photo.

“Yeah. Or, I think I do. Gotta get a move on, though, or I’ll miss 'er.” The tailor tucked his phone back into the pocket of his leather jacket, and the ginger resumed scanning.

Plastic bag on his arm, Kanji stepped back out into the chill April night. He replaced the fuel nozzle into its holster at the pump, closed the fuel tank door, and hopped back into the truck cab. As it often did, his mind fell to the object of his pursuit.

Why had she vanished? Where was she now? Why was she headed for London? What was she doing that required such stealth? In the months after graduation, he had told himself that she was on a case, that she was keeping him and Rise safe by keeping them in the dark. But something had continued to nag at him, and as the days turned into weeks, the weeks into months, and the months into more than a year… The nagging didn’t fade, and Naoto didn’t return or make any contact.

So he'd caught a train or two, and then a taxi to the Shirogane estate. If she'd told anyone where she was going, it would have been her grandfather, Kanji had figured. And he’d been right. The senior Shirogane didn’t know much, but he knew enough. He'd sent the younger man away with all the information he had and a small collection of Naoto's most prized possessions, and had gotten the tailor's word that he would help the young detective out of whatever tangled web she’d gotten herself into.

And now, three years later, he chased her as she hitchhiked her way to London. Little did he know, he missed her by much less than he would think…

* * *

» APRIL 3, 2018

» 02:38

» THETFORD, UNITED KINGDOM

» SHIROGANE NAOTO

She woke, shivering, in the dark of night.

She looked around. _That's right…_ The once world-reknowned prodigy detective had spent the last couple of nights huddled between some crates in a back alley in a small town in the English countryside. She fished the burner phone from the internal pocket of the fitted leather jacket she wore. Squinting at the sudden brightness, she looked at the time. Two thirty-eight in the morning. Just peachy.

Shoving the phone back into the hidden pocket and zipping it up to secure the device, she stood, stretching to relieve the stiffness that the cold dampness of her chosen sleeping location had left in her muscles. She had grown accustomed to sleeping in alleys over the past half decade or so.

She ruffled her fingers through her shoulder-length black hair, drying it somewhat and making it look relatively well-cared for. She flipped up the hood of her jacket, stuck her head out from the alley, and looked quickly up and down the street before slipping into the shadows of the sidewalk. Her hiking boots did well to keep her feet warm and dry, a luxury she had learned the hard way not to take for granted.

It was late enough that even the loud, obnoxious drunkards had gone home. The town she found herself in this week was a particularly quiet one. However, the time had come to leave it behind. She never planned where she would go next in the short term, hopping up and down the European countryside. She was currently attempting to head south, in the general direction of London. Once there, she hoped to pick up the trail of the boss of the English branch of an international crime ring nicknamed Mosquito.

She was getting paid extremely well for this case, although that didn’t matter much. This was a matter of justice. Of revenge, even. Just before graduating high school four years previous, she had received an anonymous tip implying that the car accident which had killed her parents might not have been so accidental. With some effort spent digging, and with some help from her best contacts in Europe, she had uncovered a labrynthine rabbithole of leads and information. She'd waited two more months, graduated from Yasogami, and then vanished to begin a life of hunting, being hunted, and worming her way through the cracks in the organization.

After a while of walking through the quiet, sleeping burg, she finally reached her destination: a glaringly-lit petrol station. She huddled in a shadow, waiting. It didn’t take long for her target to arrive.

“There,” she breathed to herself. _Perfect_. A pickup had exited the southbound lane of the nearby highway, and was headed in her direction for a refuel. The small woman readied herself for a quiet sprint. She watched the truck approach, then swing into the station. The engine fell silent, and a broad-framed man exited the driver's side door. His face was in shadow. He glanced around cautiously before stepping behind his vehicle to connect it to the fuel pump.

She got lucky. The man locked the truck, then walked brusquely towards the station's convenience store. As soon as she saw the door close behind him, Naoto jogged lightly up to the side of the truck bed. She peered over the side to check her landing. It was relatively empty, with only a storm blanket and a large ice box within. After checking that no one within the convenience store could see her, she vaulted over the side. She pushed herself into the corner of the bed nearest the fuel pump, made herself as small as she could, and waited.

Soon enough, the man came back and removed the fuel nozzle. She tracked his movements by the whispered crinkling of the plastic bag he now carried, and only let herself breathe again when the driver door slammed shut, rocking her from side to side. The detective relaxed her tensed muscles and sat down more comfortably when the engine roared to life, making the truck vibrate gently. Settling in, she pulled the storm blanket over her. After a bit of adjusting once they started moving, she finally conceded to lay flat on her back. She watched the stars above, again going over the tip she'd been given with an address and a time, as her unwitting driver pulled back onto the highway…


	2. Yu & Yosuke - A Bigger Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our two favorite boys have dug down to work the Shirogane case from Inaba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO!! I feel bad for making you wait so long for chapter 12 of RMT... SO HAVE SOME GAY POLICE BOYS TO TIDE YOU OVER!! Have a good day bye.

» APRIL 3, 2018

» 04:00

» NARUKAMI-HANAMURA RESIDENCE, INABA, JAPAN

» NARUKAMI-HANAMURA YU & NARUKAMI-HANAMURA YOSUKE

Yu stood up, stretching and yawning. It was April 3, 2016, and he had to get ready for work. He leaned over the bed, smiling, and gently poked his husband's face.

“Rise and shine, sweetheart. Time to go to work.”

Yosuke frowned and grumbled, waving away Yu's hand.

“Nnnguhh… Whatime izzit…?”

“Four. Now, up! I’ll go start coffee and breakfast.”

Chuckling at Yosuke's groan of protest, the grey-haired young man flicked on the bedroom light as he headed towards the kitchen.

Narukami-Hanamura Yu was in love with his life. He had been married to his high school sweetheart for just over a year, and he had achieved his dream job on the Inaba police force. Yosuke had followed him onto the force, where, defying anyone's expectations, he had taken Dojima's place as the resident detective.

However, there was one part of his life still missing. Four years previous, a very dear friend had simply… Vanished. Yosuke was still investigating, but the case was extremely touchy, and he knew that Naoto would have dove straight in, head-first. Kanji had left a year after Naoto disappeared, heading his own one-person manhunt back and forth across Europe.

In fact… It was about time for him to call with an update. Just as the thought ran through Yu's head, he heard his phone ring.

“Kanji! What's new?”

❝Just missed 'er.❞ The tailor's gruff voice sounded frustrated. ❝She managed to make it to London before I did early this mornin', an' disappeared pretty quick. I stopped at a police station to ask if anyone'd seen 'er, told 'em I was there on your order an' showed 'em the note you sent, too. Nothin'.❞

“Damn. Hang on, let me ask my lump of a husband if he's got anything new since we last talked to you.”

❝'Kay.❞

Yu padded back to their room and found Yosuke sitting up on the side of the bed, rubbing his eyes blearily.

“Kanji's on the phone, Suke. You find anything new he doesn’t know about?”

"One sec,” Yosuke said, yawning, as he picked up his phone from the bedside. “I think I heard something from an informant buddy of mine in downtown London yesterday evening… Let's see… Yeah. Wow, she must be getting a bit careless. Seems he saw what he describes as 'a black aired busty little skank' acting 'right shifty.' He thinks he witnessed an exchange of information, maybe even an informant meeting. Looks like she bought some pretty valuable information.”

Kanji made a strangled noise somewhere between a snarl and a gasp at the uncouth description of Naoto. Yosuke grinned and shrugged.

“Hey, he may not be polite, but he gives me some real pricey info for free. Most informants don’t give enough of a damn, but he can see how important this case is, so he took his payment in the form of me saving his ass a couple times.”

❝Yeah, yeah… So, where was this? I need an address.❞

“Looks like… They were seen right at the intersection of Newman Passage and Percy Passage. Shadowy little corner there. Knowing her, she knows how to melt right back into the shadows… Well, I guess you know that by now.”

❝Damn straight…❞ Kanji muttered, and they heard the tapping of him writing down what he’d been told. ❝Right. You got any clues of where she could be stayin'?❞

“Last couple times I had her tailed, she was sleeping in alleys, Kanji. She's probably doing the same now. There's some seriously dangerous people after her; she can’t exactly risk checking into a hotel.”

❝You actually managed to have her tailed? Damn, you gotta get me in touch with your people.❞

“They were barely able to keep up with her for six hours at a time. You got a good eye for girls, bud. She's seriously talented, that one." 

❝Shut up, Yosuke.❞  

The two police officers laughed, and even Kanji chuckled a bit, glad for the nostalgic teasing.

“Anyways, I could probably round up a party of three or four cops to scope out the smaller and darker alleys of the city. Beyond that, I don’t think there’s much I can do.”

❝That'd be awesome. Thanks a million.❞

“Hey man, she's our friend too. I know how capable she is, but I still worry about her taking such a massive case without help.”

Yu nodded in agreement.

“Alright, I think we're going to have to leave it at that. We have to get to work, hun.”

“Right,” Yosuke said, standing up and stretching. “Okay, I’ll call you the moment I hear from any of my contacts in London. Talk to you then.”

❝Bye, you two.❞

"Bye! And good luck.”

Yu hung up.

“Alright! Now, let's see if we can’t track down our Detective Prince.”

* * *

» APRIL 3, 2018

» 14:16

» INABA POLICE DEPARTMENT HEADQUARTERS, INABA, JAPAN

» NARUKAMI-HANAMURA YU & NARUKAMI-HANAMURA YOSUKE

Yosuke came slamming into Yu's office, breathless and looking around wildly. He spotted Yu at his desk, stumbled over, and shoved a phone into the silver-haired man's face.

“What…?”

"Read… Don't talk… No time,” Yosuke panted, taking panicked gulps of air.

"I…” Yu pushed the phone back so he could focus on the screen. His eyes soon shot wide open. _“WHY THE HELL AREN’T WE ON THE PHONE WITH KANJI RIGHT NOW?!?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to javert_is_my_poor_repressed_son for beta reading. 


	3. Rise - On Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am the worst kind of liar.
> 
> EDIT 10/30/2017: Finally fixed the tour dates!! Thanks for pointing that out, WishStone! This story strictly follows a calendar that's very difficult to change on the fly, so I'm glad I didn't write three chapters that followed an erroneous calendar, then realize my mistake and have to scrap it all! You continue to be my hero in more ways than one, WS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to sharktrash and javert_is_my_poor_repressed_son for beta reading. And TheBlepKing too kinda I guess? Thanks guys XD

» APRIL 7, 2018

» 22:03

» ORIX THEATER, NISHI WARD, OSAKA, OSAKA PREFECTURE, JAPAN

» KUJIKAWA RISE

“Aaand it’s sadly time to call it a night! I love you all to death, thanks so much for coming out to see me tonight~!! _I LOVE YOU, OSAKA!!”_ Rise blew giant kisses out to the screaming audience. Even four years after her big comeback, her popularity had not waned. The magazines were all praising her for proving that she was no one-trick pony. As much fun as she had on tour, she wasn’t just here for idol business. Yosuke had asked her to meet with a contact of his about the Shirogane-Mosquito case.

See, there was one flaw in Kujikawa Rise's otherwise perfect life.

Her best friend dropped off the face of the planet four years ago.

* * *

» APRIL 7, 2018

» 23:40

» NANIWA WARD, OSAKA, OSAKA PREFECTURE, JAPAN

» KUJIKAWA RISE

“Right,” Rise said, snapping her compact shut and nervously bouncing the heel of her hand on her knee. “So, go over it one more time?”

Yu chuckled.

❝Suke, she wants to go over it again.❞

❝You're kidding.❞ The mop-top's exasperated groan was audible in the background. She heard a shift and a soft tap.

❝You're on speaker now, Riz, so don’t say anything _too_ embarrassing.❞

She laughed at that.

“Oh, come on, Yu, it's just you two.”

❝I don’t know what secrets you’ve got! And I’d like it to stay that way!❞ Yosuke said, and she could practically see him holding up his hands and turning his face away. ❝Anyways, what're you so nervous about? You're an actress, for chrissake! You do this for a living!❞

“Yeah, but if I mess up on set, the most I have to worry about is an annoyed director. I don’t know what might happen if I say the wrong thing to this informant guy!”

❝It'll be okay, Riz. We can trust this guy, right, Suke?❞

❝Uh... Probably?❞

“Oh, that _really_ makes me feel better,” she said drily.

❝It'll be fine, dude. You got the wig and makeup, and you’re catching an undercover car back to the hotel. You'll have to be careful for a while, but you knew that when you took the job. All for Naoto's sake, right?❞

"Yeah, I guess… I wish I could help Kanji look for her… At least I’d feel like I was _doing_ something.”

❝You _are_ doing something here. This guy's a bit parano—er, picky, so he won’t do phone calls. But I think he knows something big, and he's offering to tell us, for a price. You’ve got the money, right?❞

Her glittery nails jumped to fidget with the purse at her side.

"Yeah, don’t worry.”

❝You'll be fine,❞ Yu said gently. ❝Hey, it’s not like you’re fighting a Shadow or something! And we'll be just a button press away if you need us.❞

"Uh-huh, I know, I know, I’m just—” She took a deep breath in and out, then stood up tall with her best, most confident on-stage posture. “I’m just a bit nervous, that's all! Everybody gets stage fright their first couple performances! I’ll be fine!”

❝There's the Risette we know! You’re gonna do great. Alright, final checklist! Address?❞

"Check!”

❝Time?❞

"Check!”

❝Name? Money? Notepad and pen?❞

"Check! Check! Check and check!”

❝Brilliant. Okay, we’re going to let you go now. Good luck!❞

“I won’t need it!” The idol declared, before hanging up and slipping her phone back into her purse.

* * *

“I'm not so sure, Yosuke…” Rise murmured to herself, standing just within the shadows of an alley. She was deep in the poor residential district in the Naniwa Ward of Osaka. She clutched her purse close to her stomach, glancing nervously around every few minutes.

“'Ey, girlie. You the one I’m talkin' to for the IPD?” Someone growled in English.

She jumped and spun around to find a scrawny man standing behind her. Deciding that it made more sense than Japanese, she squeaked a response in English.

“Y-yes!”

"Peachy. Money?” The man had an extremely thick Cockney accent.  _Must be from London... Where Naoto is._

She opened her purse and slipped him the stack of bills, and as he counted them, took out the notepad and pen.

“Right, now, listen 'ere… I 'eard from a very influential source at the 'ead of the London branch of Mos that they 'ad been worried about a li'le worm makin' its way through 'is branch. And he was worried 'bout the fact that 'e couldn't get a dip of info on this worm. So 'e tigh'ned securi'y a hundredfold. And… _Next day,_ mind! Guess who 'e 'ad in one of 'is li'le traps? Nonother than one Shirogane Nao'o, the missin' li'le Detec'ive Prince! Bu' then—an' 'e tol' me this personally, mind—la'er jus' tha' same day, the li'le eel slipped out somehow! He's gotta still be somewhere in London, hidin' out! Now, tha's all I know for sure,” he said, lowering his voice and glancing around, “but here's somefink I’d bet a good hunk on… I betcha that Shirogane's plannin' somefin'… Somefink big. We all know 'e'd never let 'imself ge' caugh' by a simple mob boss… I betcha 'e was testin' 'em. Seein' how good 'em defenses is, righ'? Seein' 'ow easy 'e could slip out! Ev'rywhere we get a sightin' of 'im, next fing we know, a boss is gettin' arrested… London's probably 'is next big 'it, mind? Yeah!”

She finished scribbling down everything he'd said.

"Anything else?”

“Nah. Tell Hanamura 'e owes me one fer tha' extra bit.” He grimaced and disappeared into the grimy shadows of the alleyway. Rise slipped the notepad and pen back into her purse, then pulled out her phone and dialed up her car.

* * *

» DOCUMENT

» TYPE: POSTER

» LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

» LOCATION FOUND: OUTSIDE ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM

» TEXT/IMAGES:

RISETTE IS COMING TO LONDON! Buy your tickets now for her 2018 CRYSTALLINE HEART WORLD TOUR performance at the ROYAL ALBERT HALL!

risettetickets.co.uk

Sapporo, Japan 3/30  
Sendai, Japan 4/1  
Yokohama, Japan 4/3  
Nagoya, Japan 4/5  
Osaka, Japan 4/7  
Hiroshima, Japan 4/9  
Fukuoka, Japan 4/11  
Seoul, South Korea 4/14  
Beijing, China 4/17  
Shanghai, China 4/20  
Taipei, Taiwan 4/23  
Hong Kong, China 4/26  
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 4/30  
Bangkok, Thailand 5/4  
New Delhi, India 5/8  
Nairobi, Kenya 5/12  
Cape Town, South Africa 5/16  
Kinshasa, D.R. Congo 5/20  
Barcelona, Spain 5/24  
Paris, France 5/27  
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM 5/30  
Berlin, Germany 6/2  
Prague, Czechia 6/5  
Vienna, Austria 6/8  
Rome, Italy 6/12  
Istanbul, Turkey 6/16  
Moscow, Russia 6/20  
Toronto, Canada 6/25  
New York City, United States of America 6/30

* * *

» APRIL 8, 2018

» 00:24

» SANYO SHINKANSEN, HYOGO PREFECTURE, JAPAN

» KUJIKAWA RISE

❝Hey! Everything go as planned?❞

"Thankfully,” Rise said, leaning back in her seat. She was aboard a bullet train to Hiroshima, the next stop on her tour. Thankfully, her agency had managed to book her a private car, so she didn't have to go undercover for a second time in two hours.

❝Awesome. Give us the deets.❞

She pulled out the notepad and read it out to Yu and Yosuke. There was a moment of silence when she finished.

❝Damn,❞ Yu finally said.

❝We should see if we can get Kanji on the line for this,❞ Yosuke suggested from the background.

“Yes! You absolutely should! Wow, I haven’t talked to him in, like, three weeks!”

_Ring…_

_Ring…_

_Click!_

❝Yo. Got somethin' new? Er… Oh, hi Rise.❞ A familiar, gruff voice came in on a new line.

“Hiii!! What's been happening?” She chirped, by way of a greeting, to the tailor.

❝A lot,❞ Yu answered for him, ❝but that's another conversation. Kanji, Rise just got out of an informant meeting confirming—and updating—the urgent information we gave you the other day. Hopefully this will at least let you get some sleep.❞

❝Yeah?❞ He sounded skeptical.

❝Okay, first and foremost: Naoto escaped. She's currently hiding somewhere in London.❞

"We think,” Rise added.

❝We think,❞ Yu agreed.

"We mean that we know she escaped, and we think she’s still in London,” she clarified, smiling as she imagined Kanji's confusion. He laughed with relief.

❝Okay, that makes more sense! Thanks for clarifying. Yeah, tha's a big weight off my shoulders, least in the short term. Whaddo we know 'bout 'er plans? What's she gonna do next?❞

❝Our—very experienced, mind you—informant thinks she let herself get caught to test their defenses, and that she’s planning to arrest the London-area boss next,❞ said Yu, audibly shuffling a stack of papers.

❝Sounds 'bout right, based on 'er history an' what I’ve been hearin'.❞

❝Yeah, we thought so too,❞ Yosuke replied.

❝But, again, this is Naoto we're talking about. Every time you think you’ve pinned down a pattern in her behavior, she suddenly switches strategies.❞

❝Too smart fer 'er own good, that one…❞

“I’m telling you! She overthinks everything!” Rise cried.

❝Okay, but we’ve even tried accounting for that, and we still haven’t caught her!❞ 

❝If we think of it, she's thought of it a hundred times already. She's brilliant,❞ Yu said succinctly.

"Yeah, really…”

❝True that.❞

❝Yeah...❞

Yu finally broke the solemn silence.

❝Well, I think that's about it for now, isn’t it? Should we let you go, Kanji?❞

❝I guess if she's stayin' in the city, it gives me a couple days ta recoup.❞

❝Right.❞

“So, no update for me until tomorrow?” Rise asked sadly

❝Ta. I'm 'boutta drop off where I stand. I’ll text ya tomorrow, 'kay?❞

"'Ta?' What's that supposed to mean?”  
Kanji chuckled tiredly.

❝Don' it sound weird? It's British slang fer 'yes.'❞

❝Weird,❞ Yosuke said. ❝Man, it's so cool that you're learning all this crazy stuff about English, and we’re all still on our asses over here speaking Japanese.❞

❝Eh. I try.❞

The four friends laughed a little and said their goodnights. Rise hung up, sighing and settling back. She had a long three months ahead of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I... I'm sorry that this isn't RMT. BUT HEY I'M LETTING CHAPTER 12 COOK FOR A GOOD LONG TIME SO IT'S REALLY GREAT WHEN IT'S DONE!!! I'm at marching band camp this week and then I'm leaving to go see the eclipse this weekend, and then I'll be camping for the rest of next week, so I thought I'd post _something,_ to help tide y'all over till I'm done with chapter twelve of RMT.  
>  Hope you enjoyed this, and see you in a week and a half!!


End file.
